Software installs: translating Ubuntu > Gentoo (Qemu ARM64)

gilius · n00b Joined: 11 Apr 2018 Posts: 10

I need to get some software installed on Gentoo (ARM64 build; running on the Raspberry Pi 3):

Here's how I would do it in Ubuntu:

fedeliallalinea · Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2018 5:55 am Post subject:

Portage tell you that for app-emulation/virt-manager

gilius · n00b Joined: 11 Apr 2018 Posts: 10

Thanks for your reply!

fedeliallalinea · Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2018 9:17 am Post subject:

gilius · n00b Joined: 11 Apr 2018 Posts: 10

fedeliallalinea · Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2018 12:17 pm Post subject:

Sakaki · Guru Joined: 21 May 2014 Posts: 409

gilius,

I've just tried emerging virt-manager myself on a copy of your system image, and the issue actually appears to stem from the fact it is pulling in a number of "9999" (bleeding edge) ebuilds, because of keywording. This is a common issue atm for arm64, since there are many packages that are not "keyworded" (tested by Gentoo devs) for this architecture. When this occurs, Portage's default behaviour is to ask you if you'd like to allow the -9999 versions to build, but that's almost never what you want to do.

I suggest you first run (do all this as root) "dispatch-conf" and then press "z" to zap any configuration file changes that are pending as a result of your prior emerge runs. Then get rid of any changes that have already made it through:

Sakaki · Guru Joined: 21 May 2014 Posts: 409

PS for arm64 stuff you'll probably get a better response posting to the "Gentoo on ARM" forum - someone there may even have built the exact package you're trying to get working.
_________________
Regards,

sakaki

fedeliallalinea · Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2018 1:01 pm Post subject:

Thanks Sakaki I did not think that package without keyword arm64 can compile.
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gilius · n00b Joined: 11 Apr 2018 Posts: 10

Thanks to Sakaki also! I ran the first commands (zap and clearing the other files) then when I came to updating the virt-manager files they were not already present, so I created them using cat > virt-manager. I then ran the libvirt install again:

Sakaki · Guru Joined: 21 May 2014 Posts: 409

Oops, that was my mistake - the entries should be /etc/portage/package.accept_keywords/virt-manager, not /etc/portage/package.unmask/virt-manager...

To fix it just do:

gilius · n00b Joined: 11 Apr 2018 Posts: 10

I am running Gentoo ARM64 on Raspberry Pi 3, and a novice when it comes to using Linux.

How might I go about installing the entire Qemu package please? Here's how I would do it in Ubuntu:

https://download.qemu.org/qemu-2.12.0-rc2.tar.xz
sudo apt-get install libglib2.0-dev
sudo apt-get install libpixman-1-dev
sudo apt-get install libpixman-1-0
sudo apt-get install libsdl2-dev
sudo apt-get install autoconf
make a new subdirectory named build and cd to that dir
../configure --disable-vnc --enable-sdl --with-sdlabi=2.0
sudo make
sudo make install

Right now, I have only the qemu-system-aarch64, and it complains about missing vgabios-stdvga.bin when using the -device vga flag. I took that file from a Windows distribution, but it just comes up with a black screen after "guest initializes display". That's why I thought it might be better if I installed the entire Qemu package - but using Portage is not straightforward for me.

Any help would be much appreciated!

gilius · n00b Joined: 11 Apr 2018 Posts: 10

Thanks again Sakaki! I got a new problem now - perhaps resolved with a complete install of Qemu - have posted in the forum you suggested:
https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-p-8209500.html#8209500

gilius · n00b Joined: 11 Apr 2018 Posts: 10

I've found out that the VGA issue is a bug when -device vga flag is used in conjunction with -enable-kvm :evil:

Sakaki · Guru Joined: 21 May 2014 Posts: 409

gilius,

there's some info about Gentoo's version of QEMU on the wiki, here, and in its package listing.

In particular, you may wish to add some additional supported targets, and possibly some additional USE flags, to turn on features you need. You can see the configuration of your currently installed package, and which other versions and options are available, using eix. For example, on my gentoo-on-rpi3-64bit system:

NeddySeagoon · Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 3:36 pm Post subject:

gilius,

Welcome to Gentoo.

Gentoo on arm64 is a rather ambitious way to learn both Gentoo and Linux.

Gentoo is sill experimental on arm64. Lots of things just work, but nobody knows yet.
If you want to learn Gentoo, install it side by side as dual boot with Ubuntu. Then there is no time pressure to make it work.
If that's a step too far, install Gentoo as a guest in the Virtual Machine solution of your choice.

Everything you learn doing a 'standard' install will be applicable to arm64 too.
Both ways will enable you to use your desktop Gentoo install to help build for the Raspberry Pi.

Portage is the tool you use to implement your very own Linux distro. There is no need to get your distro design right at the outset, you can change it as you go and portage will morph your existing Gentoo into your new one.

As Gentoos arm64 offering is still experimental, its still rough round the edges. As Gentoo is source based, you get to compile everything for yourself too.
You can cheat a little. It is possible to share binaries for Gentoo if they fit your USE flags and other constraints.
If you want to try a BINHOST, I have a collection which includes stable, testing and some things not keyworded at all for arm64.

gilius · n00b Joined: 11 Apr 2018 Posts: 10

Cheers for the info as always!

BTW, I noticed in the wiki they are still on version 2.11, but there's now a 2.12 update available. Does that mean the Gentoo devs have to add it before we can update?

Once they add it would it then be a case of:
emerge --sync
emerge -auvDN --with-bdeps y world

Would that take care of it?

NeddySeagoon · Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 3:42 pm Post subject:

Moved from Portage & Programming to Gentoo on ARM.

... and /me checks in

Merged another thread by gilius beginning with this post. Piggybacking on this post to avoid bumping the thread. --pjp
_________________
Regards,

NeddySeagoon

Computer users fall into two groups:-
those that do backups
those that have never had a hard drive fail.

NeddySeagoon · Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 3:49 pm Post subject:

gilius,

That's correct.

gilius · n00b Joined: 11 Apr 2018 Posts: 10

Thanks Neddy! I might try to get the 32-bit version on my phone via LinuxDeploy and play around with that. I realise my arm64 failures are not representative of Gentoo in general or at large. I am still trying to understand the concepts of Portage and "building our own Linux distro" not to mention what the "meta" part means, but I guess in a nutshell we get easy access to newer app versions with automatic updates?

Sakaki did a great job introducing us to this over at the Raspberry Pi forums... nice to have the exposure!

NeddySeagoon · Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 3:59 pm Post subject:

gilius,

Think of Gentoo like Linux From Scratch with a package manager.
Gentoo is really only Portage and the Gentoo repositiory, everything else is ${UPSTREAM}

Take a single large package, like libreoffice. The binary distros will build and package it for you but you don't get any say in how its built.
In Gentoo, you build it yourself and there are over 256ki ways to do that. That just with USE flag settings.

How long you need to wait for new packages depends on how adventurous you are.
For minor revisions, it can be enough to rename the existing ebuild. It doesn't always work but if you are in a hurry, its worth a try.
_________________
Regards,

NeddySeagoon

Computer users fall into two groups:-
those that do backups
those that have never had a hard drive fail.

Hu · Administrator Joined: 06 Mar 2007 Posts: 21724

Regarding new versions, there are a few options, all depending on how you value timeliness of availability versus your own time. If your own time is maximally valuable, you wait for someone with write access to the Gentoo repository or some other well-trusted repository to post a new ebuild. This puts the least burden on you, especially if you choose to follow the "stable" tree (meaning that you don't get the package until the maintainers are confident in it). It's also the slowest, because you're waiting for volunteers to spend their time bumping to the new version, other more adventurous users to test it, and only then do you get it. If your time is somewhat valuable, but you're willing to put a bit more effort into it, you can track "unstable". You still wait for volunteers to bump it, but you get access to it before it's had a burn-in time to let other people look for serious regressions. More adventurous still would be to track overlays, which may have looser quality standards (or not - some overlays are run by very diligent and cautious people). Finally, if timeliness is maximally valuable and your own time is minimally so, you can use a personal overlay to bump to the new ebuild as soon as upstream provides something you want. Nobody will get there before you, so quality testing is all on you, but you get it as soon as possible.

You don't need to make that decision on a tree-wide basis. Portage allows you to mix and match, so you could choose to track upstream closely for some packages (e.g. your favorite game, productivity suite, etc.), but stick with a less adventurous option for core system packages. This has its own complications, since mixtures may not be as well tested. On the other hand, it lets you avoid pulling in untested packages when the well-tested ones do everything you need. (For example, maybe you don't need the absolute latest SDL, because you only have it for games that want it, and don't particularly care when upstream adds shiny new features to it, because those features won't matter to you until the games are updated to use them.)

Sakaki · Guru Joined: 21 May 2014 Posts: 409

gilius,

I've now added virt-manager to the set of apps maintained by the gentoo-on-rpi3-64bit weekly autobuild, and added the necessary package.accept_keywords and package.use entries to the project's custom profile.

As such, you can now emerge virt-manager on your RPi3 using binary packages (much quicker than building it from source yourself, if you haven't already done so). To install it, open a terminal, become root, then: